This is What Summer's All About
by xYaoiGirlx
Summary: [AWL][RockJack] Rock needs to find something to do all summer so his mom will stop griping about him being lazy. Who better to turn to than Jack?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: I don't own Natsume and had nothing to do with the creation or development of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. I'm simply using the characters for my and my muse's entertainment.

Notes: I don't know how old Rock or Maya (Jack, whatever…farmer boy) is, nor do I really care. :P So in this fic, Rock is 17 and Maya's 18. Enjoy!

This is What Summer's All About by Yaoi Girl 

.: Rock's POV :.

Today's a good day for a nice, long walk, I decided as I stepped out from my home and stretched, breathing in deep.

The sun's warm and not a cloud in sight. An absolutely perfect summer day indeed.

With a final stretch, I begin heading to the path next to Maya's house and towards the spring. That's a nice place to relax no matter what time of day it is.

As I walk past, I can't help but stop and watching Maya bathing his animals. I laugh and shake my head as Tobi, his dog, jumps into the water trough then out again, shaking water all over his now drenched master.

Maya, apparently having heard me laughing, turned his head and smiled to me before turning back to his chore. He really needs to get out more, but then again, farm life must be tough, and today is an ideal day to give animals a bath.

Continuing on down the path, my mother passes me on her way back to the inn.

"Why don't you help Maya today? I'm sure he'd like some company," she says with a smile.

"You know me, mom. I'm not one for getting too dirty."

She nods and walks on, though with a slight frown. I guess I could do something besides lounging about all day and doing basically nothing. But today is such a nice day to be outside and be lazy!

Then I think back to Maya, the image of him trying to block the water from his face as Tobi shook, laughing. And his white shirt nearly transparent and sticking to his body…

Where did that come from?! I'm straight. I think…okay, so I don't know really. I've never been attracted to any of the girls in our town, since I've known everyone since I was little and Nami is pretty much the sister I never had, and the girls in Mineral Town, well, they don't really appeal to me either. But I've never thought about guys being attractive to me, mainly because all of the guys in Mineral Town are taken, not to mention the fact that I've know them for as long as I can remember.

I know that I tell a lot of people that I want to go on a date with a cute girl and whatnot, but that's what people want to hear, right? The normal guy/girl relationship. But I'm not so sure if that's what I truly want.

With a sigh, I sit down and lean back against a tree next to the stream, closing my eyes as I think.

I must've dozed off for a while because it's nearly five in the evening. And Maya must be done with his work for the day…

Glancing over to the pond, I notice his horse napping while he's fishing in the spring, content in the still warm evening.

I smile as he curses under his breath and pouts, having missed a fish apparently.

For a few minutes, my gaze wanders from the red bobber up to his face, a look of pure concentration there, at least until my eyes stay there for too long.

He looks at me, apparently just figuring out that I had been there for a while and having noticed that he was being stared at.

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah; just fine," I say with a reassuring smile, shortly after turning my head to look down into the stream.

Okay, so he has a really cute face and nice eyes…

I hear him curse again and the rustling of his bag as he tucks his fishing pole inside, so I turn to see him walking towards me, smiling.

"Want some company?"

I shrug and pick up a flower that's next to me, twirling it between my fingers as I study it.

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" he asks as he sits down Indian-style, facing me.

"I've got some things on my mind, but I'm fine."

"You're just sore because I beat you at that milk drinking contest yesterday," he teased. (A/N: isn't it a pain in the ass to beat him at that?! I tore my shoulder up, but I beat him!)

"That too…"

"So…is this what you've been up to all day?" he asks me as he lays back in the grass, his head by my leg with his arms folded beneath his head.

"Pretty much," I reply as I pull off a petal from the flower, letting it drop and following it with my gaze until it lands squarely on the end of Maya's nose.

I laugh as he goes cross-eyed, blowing upward in an attempt to get it off without moving his head or hands; apparently he was that comfortable on the ground.

"Must be nice," he says after blowing the yellow petal away from his face, sighing in defeat as it drifted to land on his arm. "Being able to just relax all the time."

"Sometimes it's all right," I reply as I brush the petal from his skin, surprised when he shivered slightly as my fingers gently brushed the offending object away. "Some days relaxing is just plain boring. I need to find a hobby or something…"

You'd hardly be able to believe that he's just a year older than me with as busy as he is. Me, I'm just laid back and carefree, like a normal 17-year-old boy should be, although my mother says otherwise.

We were silent for a while and I went back to pulling petals from the flower, purposely dropping them onto Maya's face and arms, daring him to move. After about the eight petal, he relented and sat up, dusting them off and gently shoving me.

I laughed, shoving him back. He retaliated by threatening to tickle me, his fingers wiggling teasingly next to my sides, so I grab them, lacing our fingers on both hands.

From there, we push, trying to out-power the other with our arms alone, but we both jump when we hear someone yelling.

We both turn to face Takakura who was telling Maya that one of his cows somehow escaped and wouldn't follow him back to the barn, all the while, we listened, our hands stayed together.

Maya stands a few moments later, releasing my hands as he takes off in a sprint after his escapee. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Okay, so I think I might like guys, or maybe it's just Maya…either way, I already miss the feel of his warm hands. And here I am longing after his touch like a love-struck girl and I'm not even in love with the boy.

TBC

I had to do it! I couldn't just sit back and wait for someone to write a fic with this pairing!!! ^_^;

Now I'm either going to have an unexpected storm the next day and Rock ends up running to Maya's house for shelter or Rock helps Maya around the farm. You can chose, but both are going to happen in one order or the other. Any other suggestions are welcomed!

Oh, yeah! Hope you enjoyed so far! :P


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimers: I don't own Natsume and had nothing to do with the creation or development of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. I'm simply using the characters for my and my muse's entertainment.

This is What Summer's All About by Yaoi Girl

.: Rock's POV :.

It was only a few moments after Maya took off down the path that I realized that he had left his horse behind, which was actually awake and looked rather confused.

I get up and walk over to the forgotten animal and pet his nose.

"They call me dumb because I'm a blonde, so what's your owner's excuse?" I laugh as I lead him home, finding Maya scowling at Miyu, the escapee inside the now patched up fence. "Forget something?"

Apparently I scared him, because he jumped about a foot in the air before turning to me with wide eyes. He then smiled sheepishly as he seen me with Ryo.

Within seconds, Maya was by my side thanking me before he jumped onto Ryo's back.

I started to walk, deciding to go to the beach for a while. However, that idea didn't last long.

No sooner than I was next to Gustafa's house, Maya came racing towards me on Ryo and then he came to a halt next to me.

"Wanna go for a ride?" he smiles at me while reaching down a hand to help me up.

I shrug and climb up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist to keep from falling off, reveling in the closeness.

I don't know how long we had been riding, but it's now around nine or so and we're at the beach, watching the fireworks being set off from Mineral Town, Ryo off somewhere behind us, probably napping.

The last firework goes up and explodes and I find myself yawning, all the while having been leaning unconsciously against Maya's shoulder as we're sitting on the edge of the forgotten boat on the beach.

"Thanks for hanging out with me tonight," I said as I stand up and stretch a few moments later.

I turn back to face Maya and he's smiling up at me and I can't help but get caught up in his chocolate colored eyes.

"We should hang out more often," he suggests while he looks away, standing a few moments later and poking his horse in the side to wake him up. "You want a ride home?"

He turns to face me again and we're gazing into each other's eyes, and it's then that I realize he could think I'm acting like a freak or something, which is the last thing I want, so I look away and try to fight off the blush that's rising.

"No; I'm gonna hang out here for a little while longer before I go home."

I could've sworn that he just frowned, but I can't really tell since I'm facing the water for the most part.

"Suit yourself. See ya," he says as he turns to head home, already having jumped onto Ryo's back.

"Wait!"

Why did I say that? I don't have anything to say to him, other than 'I want you to touch me again' but then he really would think I was a freak.

He looks over his shoulder at me, smiling. "Yeah?"

"I, uh…" C'mon Rock, think! "I was wondering if you mind some extra help around the farm tomorrow?"

He simply shrugs. "Sure. You don't have to though."

"Mom's been wanting me to keep you company since you're usually alone. And I said I needed something to do to spend time…"

Maya nods to me in understanding. "So, I'll see you around 1:30?" he laughs. Just because I like to sleep in…

"10:30. I'm going to make myself get up early tomorrow."

"I wish I could sleep in, but I have things to do," he teases. "Alright, tomorrow around 10:30 it is. See ya then!"

I wave at him and watch him disappear around the inn before I begin to aimlessly wander.

~*~

"Hey, mom, guess what!" I say proudly as I enter the house, scaring both of my parents because I'm actually home before midnight. "I'm gonna start helping Maya around the farm."

"That's great, dear," she smiles at me. "It's nice of you to give him some company; I'm sure he appreciates it."

I nod and smile while heading towards the stairs. "I'm going to bed. I told him I'd be there around 10:30, so if I'm not up by then, soak me with water if you want, so long as I get up."

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see my parents' eyes go wide in shock of me going to bed -and- getting up early, then they look at each other as though they have the answer to my sudden pattern change.

~*~

"Ugh…too early!" I groan while my mother prods me awake, causing me to bury myself deep into my blankets and pillow.

"You said to get you up so you could help…"

"Maya!" I practically yell as I shoot straight up, throwing the covers off of my body.

My mother laughs and leaves the room while I'm fighting to get my arm through my shirt and put my pants on at the same time. If I don't hurry, I'll be late and he'll tease me about sleeping in again. Not that I really mind, but still…

After properly getting my clothes on and the like, I head downstairs for a quick breakfast then out the front door.

"None for me?" Maya pouts as he sees me finishing off the last of my toast a few minutes later.

"I'm not your cook. And when's the last time you shared anything with me?"

"What about the romantic fireworks display last night? Didn't I share that with you?" he teases as he brushes Miyu, leaving me to blush horribly. "And I shared my shoulder…"

Okay…so he got me there.

"Fine then; I'll bring you something tomorrow morning," I say as I jump the fence and walk up to him, the blush mostly gone though I can still feel light warmth in my cheeks.

"Tomorrow morning?" he turns to me, confused. I did only say for today…

"Yeah; if you don't mind that is and if I actually like farm work, then could I help you for a while?"

"I don't see why not," he shrugs as he then brushes Yeti, his goat. (A/N: I had to name her that after I seen Mukumuku because my neighbor boy kept calling him a Yeti.)

I smile and then laugh as Woolie, his only sheep, comes barreling towards me, wanting attention.

"So, what's the game plan?" I ask as I lazily pet the 'attention deprived' animal before me.

"Lets see…I have three more cows to brush and I'm done with them until later today, then we can throw the chickens around and collect their eggs, then watering and picking, maybe some planting; that depends on if my seeds are done yet. But while I'm finishing them up, can you go get the milk from the milking room and take it to the storage shed?"

"Where do I put it then?"

"There's a cooler in the middle of the room; just put them in there and make sure you put the lid back on tight."

With my mission acquired, I head for the main objective: the milk. The one small problem that I have with this mission is that I can only carry four at a time, and there's a good seven or eight more cans waiting on me. But I managed, except…

"Maya's gonna kill me!" I grimaced as two of the last containers slipped from my arm and fell to the floor, spilling everywhere. "I better make him a good breakfast tomorrow to pay for this."

And as fate would have it, I'd get caught because he entered the room just as I put the two full cans into the cooler.

"Hey, Rock, are you ready to…" he started excitedly trailing off as his eyes caught sight of the white mess on the floor, his confused chocolate eyes then traveling up my body to my face.

"They slipped?" I winced and grinned at the same time. It was the truth after all.

I sigh inwardly as his face breaks out into a smile. "You own me."

"Will a decent breakfast tomorrow due?" I ask hopefully, seeing as I'm flat broke.

"Bacon, two sunny-side up eggs, toast, and a glass of orange juice," he states with a smirk.

"If I cooked all that, then I'd have to be here super early, and I can't carry that here! I'll break mom's plates with as clumsy as I am and then I'll owe her!"

He turned and opened the door to go outside. "Then I guess that you'll just have to stay the night here and get up at the crack of dawn with me. That way you can use my plates and kitchen while I start chores."

"You want me to be your house-wife tomorrow, is that it?" I mock while laughing, Maya shoving me into the chicken coop a moment later. At least mom will be proud about me doing something useful.

"If you want to think of it that way, then yeah. While you're at it, you can dust and mop; the house needs it," he smiles evilly, daring me to do something to him but I can't think of a thing for revenge, seeing as I'm transfixed by his eyes again. I wouldn't be surprised if I was openly gaping and drooling at the moment.

"You're lucky you're in a place with live creatures, otherwise I'd have you face down in the dirt," I manage as he turns and picks up a hen, causing me to step back in momentary fear as she flaps around wildly and squawks. I've never been near a live chicken…

"They won't hurt you; she's just trying to protect her egg is all," he says, having seen me back away, while he scoops up her egg, frowning at it. "Not fertilized. Oh, well. How about a gold one tomorrow?"

"Are you talking to a chicken?" Now who's the freak?

"The nicer you are to them, the better the egg they give you," he states simply with a shrug of his shoulders before scooping up the next hen. "You egg-monger!"

I noticed that she didn't act as the other one did, but then after the insult to her, I seen no egg. "Oh, yes, that was so nice. She'll lay you something real nice tomorrow."

"Lets see you do better," he again shrugs, setting her down.

~*~

By the time we were finished in the chicken coop, we came out two eggs short and I knew all of them by name, not to mention that I now know how to tell the difference between a non-fertilized and a fertilized egg.

"Here's this," Maya says as he hands me a watering can after we came back out into the bright sunlight.

I filled it and we walked to the far field, me watering while he fertilized his crops and inspected the ones that were nearly ready to be picked. We didn't talk much while we watered, which took just under an hour; apparently summer isn't his favorite time to plant things, and I don't blame him with as hot as it is.

As we head back towards his house, my stomach rumbles, gaining Maya's attention which caused me to blush since he was staring at my stomach, so I rubbed it in a 'I'm a little hungry' gesture and grinned sheepishly at him.

"You want me to cook lunch too?"

"Any other time, I'd love to, but I already prepared lunch this morning, so all we have to do is heat it up and enjoy!"

So we enter his house, which I'm thankful is much cooler that outside at the moment, and I take a seat on his bed, carelessly flopping back on it as if it were my own as he warmed our lunch.

Several minutes later, I hear the plates being set down on the table, but I'm so close to nodding it I can't make myself move, though I do open my eyes slightly as I feel Maya's weight settle on the edge next to me.

He places a hand on my forehead and frowns slightly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a little tired," I yawn, my eyes instantly drooping back shut. "Being in that sun drains me."

"You wanna rest for a while? We don't have anything else to do for a couple hours, so if you want to take a nap, go ahead."

"But what about lunch? You went through all the *yawn* trouble of making it for me…"

"I can always reheat it later. Just rest."

I make a slight noise in the back of my throat, the sound that lets someone know you heard them and you're too tired to care. And within a minute's time, I'm sound asleep.

I hope I don't annoy him if I start sleep talking…

TBC

Meh, not so fluffy in this one, but, oh, will the next one! ^_______^ And then the rains cometh and drencheth the…You'll see…

Hope you enjoyed! Pssst…review please. ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimers: I don't own Natsume and had nothing to do with the creation or development of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. I'm simply using the characters for my and my muse's entertainment.

This is what Summer's All About by Yaoi Girl

"Shimatta!" I heard Maya scream, stirring me from my sleep several hours later. Then I faintly hear the frantic opening and closing of a door, but I don't know if he went outside or had to go to the bathroom really bad; I was still too asleep to care, not to mention comfortable.

A few moments later, however, I'm sitting upright in the bed, the blanket that Maya had apparently laid over me flying to the floor as I heard the loudest thunder clap of my young life. It literally sounded like it was in his pasture.

The pasture…the animals are still out!! That's why Maya was in such a hurry with the door slamming!

Within seconds of this realization, I'm up and out the door into the drizzle. Thank goddess that's all it is right now; I don't really want to go home yet and have change, and I will make it through this entire day of farming.

But by the time I make it into the pasture, the animals are all tucked away safe and sound in their cozy barn, as I discovered when I walked in to see Maya hauling an armful of fodder over to a feed box.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I pouted; I'm supposed to be proving I can do something useful here!

"I wanted to make sure I got them in here before the storm really started up; I don't know how hard you are to wake up," he shrugged, though I knew he was teasing me again.

"A shove off the bed or a bucket of cold water would do just fine," I grin as I help him finish feeding the animals.

Once we're done, Maya stands staring out the windows of the front door of the barn, frowning.

"You ready to make a run for it?"

I let out a whimper in the back of my throat as I wince with a slightly angered expression; I hate wearing wet clothes. "Yeah."

======

A few agonizing, wet moments later, we're safe and sound from the raging storm, drying our hair as best we could with towels; are clothes, for the most part, are fairly dry. It wasn't as far as a run as I thought, that and we waited a few minutes for the rain to let up a little before we did run like hell to the house, though it barely let up at all.

While I finished drying my hair, Maya heated up my lunch and I ate it happily when it was ready. Mmm…food.

All the while, until the last couple bites of my lunch, I was paying so much attention to the delicious meal before me that I didn't see Maya sitting next to me, though a respectable distance away, with his palm in his hand, staring at me, though he looked like he was looking through me, like he was daydreaming about something. It was awkward for me to be done eating and knowing that he was staring at me, or at least towards me. Really awkward.

Thankfully, the storm outside intervened, causing us to both jump as the sound of thunder once again filled the tiny house.

"You might be stuck here for the night whether you like it or not," I hear him say as he picks up my plate and sets it in the sink. "It doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon."

I walked over to the window to watch the lightning streak across the sky, fascinated by it. I've always loved storms, just not when they sound like they're inside my room. During the stormy season, nine times out of ten I'm sitting on my windowsill with the window wide open to watch the lightning.

"Hey, I need to go take care of the chickens again and collect the evening milk; you don't need to worry about going out in this."

"Are you sure?"

He nods and smiles at me before heading for the door with a frown; apparently he hates getting drenched as much as I do, but at least he has dry clothes waiting for him when he comes back in.

So, with nothing to do and being alone for the time being, I head back over toward the bed, lying down once more. I fold my hands behind my head and stare at his ceiling, thinking, not being able to get over the fact that Maya was staring at/towards me like that earlier. There's no possible way that he likes guys, let alone me, right? Ah, but it's nice to dream… And as for me, is it just Maya that I'm attracted to or all guys? Would I freak out if a guy kissed me? Or freak out if I actually had the urge and guts to kiss another guy for that matter?

Several more minutes pass before Maya comes back, drenched thoroughly to the bone…and the wet, see-thru shirt…I hate teenage hormones, despite the fact that I'm 17 and should be able to control them better than this.

"Could you toss me a towel; I don't want to track water through too much," he calls to me as he takes off his boots and socks, his rucksack being set aside a moment later while I stand in front of him, holding out a towel, trying not to stare too openly. "Thanks."

After he takes the towel, I head back to the bed once again; I've decided that this is my favorite spot in his house, and it would be even better if Maya were in it with me…I really need to stop that train of thought; I'm having enough trouble controlling my wandering hormones as it is. Maybe that's the cause of my Maya infatuation…?

Once he was done somewhat drying himself, I hear him walk across the room and rummage around in a drawer, and then I hear the bathroom door click shut. A few minutes later, he emerges, wearing a tank top and a pair of boxers. Oh…tonight is going to be hell.

"I would ask if you wanted to watch TV, but the reception's always bad during storms, so I don't really have anything else for us to do," he said as he sat on the edge of the bed, flipping his still wet bangs from his face before he rolls onto his stomach, propping his chin up with his hand, looking down at me.

"What do you usually do when it's like this then?" I ask as I roll onto my side to face him more comfortably.

"Sleep, but I know you won't go to bed this early and…" he trailed off as he sat up and looked out the window at a particularly bright flash of lightning, and once it was gone, we were left in total darkness, with the exception of the lightning and little light provided from the setting sun behind the clouds, which really wasn't much at all. I didn't mind it, but Maya seemed to be upset as he fell back into the mattress with a sigh.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just disappointed."

"About what?"

"The electricity going out; I was going to see if you wanted to play a card game or something."

For the longest time we were silent, listening to the thunder outside while he lay sprawled out on the bed and me sitting on my knees with my arms crossed over the sill, watching.

"Ne, Rock?"

"Hm?"

"Is it just me, or do you get lonely when it storms?"

"Yeah, sometimes," I told him as I turned to face him, sitting on my heels, leaning against the wall behind me slightly. "Are you lonely now, even with me here?"

"A little; how about you?"

While he had responded, I had laid down next to him on my back with my hands beneath my head again.

"Yeah, me too."

"How do you usually deal with the pain of being alone?"

"I either sing to myself or cry," I softly admitted. "I feel like crying now, but I won't."

"It's not good to keep things bottled up, Rock."

I smiled weakly, embarrassed. "I know. But I'm nearly 18, and guys that age shouldn't cry over the little things."

"I don't think being lonely is a little thing at all," Maya sighs as he rolls onto his side so that his back is facing me.

"Which girl is it?" I grin despite myself, teasing him as I rolled onto my side, poking him in the back.

"What are you talking about?" I hear him mumble sleepily.

"Don't play that with me," I smile as I roll him to lie on his back. "You're having girl problems." Even as I say this, a pang of jealousy fills my heart. I must be falling fast and hard. Goddess, I'm such a girl! I guess that's what happens when you live with two of them and have grown up around a great deal of them.

"Don't worry about it," he replies with a wave of his hand to dismiss the subject before yawning. "Sorry, but I think I'm going to sleep for the night. You can stay till the rain lets up."

I sigh, defeated. "Yeah, sure."

'So does he not trust me enough with his problems?' I can't help but sadly think as I again sit up and stare out the window.

"Rock, it's not…it's not anyone that…you think it is," I hear him shyly mumble several minutes later, but I know he's too tired now for me to prod the information out of him.

I turn from the window and lean against the wall, my eyes glazing over as I think about nothing and everything, the only thing distracting me is when Maya suddenly pulls his cover over his face. 'What's wrong?' I think, though I dare not say it out loud for fear it's something too personal and he'll yell at me.

Then everything clicks in my head and my eyes grow wide. 'He couldn't…!' It simply isn't possible, but everything that's happened in the past two days adds up to what my mind concludes.

Maya has a crush on me too.

I mean, think about it. We were practically holding hands yesterday afternoon, shared a romantic fireworks display and I 'stole' his shoulder for that event without him protesting, him letting me sleep in his bed, him staring at me when I ate…just every little thing makes sense, but is it the right conclusion? My mind still screams 'yes' because why else would he be hiding under his covers, shaking like that? Especially after the 'it's not who you think it is' and the 'who I think it is' is one of the girls in town.

But all I can bring myself to do at this realization is stare at the huddled and obliviously crying teen beneath the covers while the nagging part of my brain's still telling me it's a girl from somewhere else that I don't know and he's longing for her.

Despite the nagging part, I'm willing to risk everything, to test my theory and see if the 'yes' part of my brain is right. But if I'm wrong…may the Goddess help my wretched soul.

TBC

Long time no update, I know. But if I had other Rock/farmer boy fics to read to help jumpstart my poor overloaded brain…. hint hint

Anywho, hope you liked so far and review!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimers: I don't own Harvest Moon; I'm simply using the characters for my and my muse's entertainment.

Notes: Sorry again about taking forever and half to update! My muse decided that she's rather cooperate today instead of actually working and getting the rest of prep done for tomorrow's meals…not like I have that much prep left to do anyway!

This is What Summer's All About by Yaoi Girl

Who knows how long it had been, but sometime during the storm, I had drifted off into a very nice, deep sleep. Probably one of the best sleeps I've had in a while…But the reason for me being so comfortable and warm and cozy is the fact that the arm draped over me is keeping me that way…

Don't get me wrong, I love the way it feels, this fuzzy feeling and all…but I'm scared out of my mind. Maya has no idea that he's doing this! If he wakes up now…oh, Goddess!

I'm so still and rigid that I'm actually shaking. And I think it just caused Maya's sleeping form to mumble something very incoherent. And thank you Goddess for him rolling over and off of me!

Sitting up, I slowly ease off the bed and pad across the room to crack open the door, breathing in the nice, morning air. I used to do such things often, but I've just had no reason to get up so early…breathing is a routine, and you simply ignore it while it continues on, so you forget about it completely and don't stop to enjoy it…

And apparently Tobi's ready to be fed since he won't shut up!

"Tobi!" I hiss at him while he spins around in a circle a couple times just outside the door, his hair wagging frantically and his tongue hanging out in between barks.

And it's then that I hear a groan and the shifting of blankets before a mumbled, "What time is it?"

I glare at the dog and turn to face Maya as the fuzz ball comes barreling in and onto the bed with his master.

"Almost," I begin as I squint at the clock. "5:40."

"Good, I didn't oversleep!" he breathes as he stretches. And it was then that he realized that either A) I was still there or B) I was up and moving before him. "Is it still raining?"

"No," I reply as I close the door behind me, walking back across the room to sit on the bed, Tobi running back and forth across my lap then behind me and around me…Crazy dog.

And seconds before I was suddenly being pulled downward, Tobi had jumped off the bed and sat there, watching with his tail dusting the floor beneath him.

"Come back to bed."

I don't know what to do…Am I in my wildest dream or my worst nightmare right now? Reality sucks sometimes…

"Maya?"

"Yeah?" he mumbles as he snuggles up against me.

"Are you really awake?" I manage around my fear and excitement.

"I'm trying not to be. I have a little less than 20 minutes before I have to start work, so shut up and keep me warm!"

What in the world is going on here? Did I say something in my sleep last night or is he just naturally this way in the morning? Oh, Goddess! Please help me!

Wait! The Goddess!

I asked of her to help my wretched soul if Maya didn't feel the same…so maybe she did the opposite and had Maya open up to me? So confused…and scared…

I sigh in defeat. This may be the only chance I have of ever being with him like this, so I may as well enjoy it and see what his embrace has to offer…And my Goddess, I never want to leave him or this bed ever again!

I've been lonely for so long that maybe it's just anyone's embrace makes me feel welcomed and loved…or maybe I do really have true feelings for Maya buried somewhere within my tangled, never ending web of emotions.

Twenty minutes goes by way to fast when you're trying to truly enjoy something…let me tell you! But even so, Maya still doesn't want to actually get out of bed yet…

"Rock?"

"I'm sorry about last night…and this morning," he mumbles as he pulls his arms back to himself, slowly sitting up and wincing against the sunlight filtering in.

"It's no big deal, Maya! You said it yourself that you shouldn't keep things bottled up like that. So what if I seen you cry? Everyone cries…"

"I'm still sorry," he said as he pulled on his boots some seconds later.

"Fine, fine," I smile as I too pull on my shoes and tame my hair the best I can with my fingers. Maya and his natural bed-headedness…

"Are you coming with?" he asks over his shoulder as he stands in his open front door. "I don't mind at all if you want to go back to sleep, since I'm assuming that you were awake for quite a while this morning with me holding…" and with that he closed his mouth and turned his head away from me, hesitating before walking outside and closing the door.

I sigh again. I'll let him figure things out on his own for now…because I promised him breakfast!

Lesse…eggs, bacon from the market, milk…anything else? No bread? Scrambled eggs it is then…It feels awkward to raid someone else's fridge…

It's amazing, what with me always being either in the house asleep or outside being lazy, that I know how to actually cook a decent meal. At least certain meals…And breakfast happens to be one of them thankfully!

As I'm cooking, Maya comes back in, truly shocked that I'm actually cooking him breakfast.

"I hope you like scrambled," I call to him with a quick smile before focusing back on the pan.

"Thanks, Rock!" he smiled, still somewhat embarrassed about this morning. But that could be a bad thing, right?

As I put everything onto plates, I set them on the table and sit down, watching as Maya does so too. And I just can't help but say something…

"Maya, I don't mind that you were holding me this morning. It actually felt very nice…and I slept very well for your information."

He smiles somewhat around his bite of food.

"I'm glad you're not upset. I don't know how I would've begun to fix things between us, with us being guys and all…"

"Yeah, and?"

At this, his eyes grow wide and confused as he looks up at me. Oh, no…

"Rock, are you…"

"No, no, no!" I say waving my arms around wildly in front of me. I'm panicking, and horribly.

"So, I can have your last slice of bacon?"

What the hell!

He chuckles somewhat, shaking his head.

"I was kidding, Rock. And it's perfectly fine if you are bi."

I can't help but tense up at hearing this. He knows…

"Thank you for breakfast, but I have to throw the chickens and run into town today, so if you want to join me, get ready while I'm in the hen house," he says as he stands and places in the plate in the sink before heading back out.

Did he really mean that he doesn't mind the fact that I'm quite possibly bi? If not, he's a really good friend, or he's just afraid of hurting someone or making enemies…

With randomness flowing through my thought channel, I was up the dishes and make the bed before Maya comes back in looking somewhat miffed.

"What?" I ask looking around the room with confused eyes, because I'm pretty sure it's not me that he's upset with because he's not looking at me…

"Miyu ran off again…"

I can't help but laugh, drawing his anger a little more. But that cow…

After an hour search, we found her…in the barn. Maya didn't even think to check there since all the other animals were outside.

So we decided to go for a walk which ended with us standing on the rock formation just south of Celia's place. The view's still the same from the biggest rock though, just a slightly different angle.

"Ne, Rock?"

"Yeah?" I ask as we watch the sun setting on the horizon of water.

"I, um…kinda wanted to try something new."

"Like what?"

"Like…seeing what it's like to, um…to…" and it was then that I turned to look at him, his face downward with a horrible blush and his fingers meshing together as if he were nervous.

"To?"

He whispered something, but it floated away with the breeze that swept through. And he could tell by my expression that I didn't hear what he had said, so he stepped closer to me and breathed in my ear.

"To be with you…"

My eyes widen as I taken in the most definite possibility of that phrase. Now he's the one acting more like a girl…

"But we've only been hanging out together, as in closely, for a couple days now. Are you sure…?"

His eyes welled up a bit. I know it had taken him a lot of courage to admit what he just did, but now I'm not even so sure that now is the right time to be dating anyone. If we just jump into it like this…who knows how horrible it would end!

"Do you have any idea of how long I've wanted to say that to you, Rock? Not just a couple days, but since the day I laid eyes on you," he admitted with his back to me.

"It's me that it's only been a couple of days." I feel so bad now, knowing that it was me he was crying about last night and he'd been keeping it in for who knows how long, and I've just a had crush on him for a few measly days…

And apparently Celia knew about his crush on me too, because she stood just inside the fence on her farm, watching us atop the rock with a sympathetic face.

"Look, Maya…Just because I don't actually want to official start dating, doesn't mean that we can't do 'more that friendly' things. We'll just play things as they come along. Can you accept that answer?"

He sighed and wiped his eyes, nodding before turning to me with a small smile. "I can."

"Then let your housewife get back to work. You weren't lying when you said your house needed dusting and mopping!"

"Thanks, Rock," he grinned as he gently jumped down from our perch and raced back to the house.

And it was no sooner than we had reached the front door, me being a few seconds ahead of him, that he caught me in his nearly full momentum and shoved me against the house, pinning me there with a kiss…

TBC

At least one more chapter…Can you tell that it's been too long since I've updated? I've ended up turning Maya into the uke! XD

Ah, brain farts at work…gotta love them…


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